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Saturday, March 10, 2012

Surname Saturday ~ Southwick of Salem, Massachusetts

SOUTHWICK

Shelter Island Map

Lawrence Southwick does not appear in any official
records until 1639 in Salem, when he was admitted to the church and given two
acres of land for his glass and “earthenware” business. He is supposed to be one of the first glass
manufacturers in the New World according to family lore, although Jamestown,
Virginia had an early glass business.
Lawrence, his wife Cassandra, and son Josiah and daughter Mary were
fined, whipped and finally banished for being Quakers. Lawrence and his wife died of exposure on
Shelter Island, off Long Island, New York in 1659.

Their minor children, Daniel and Provided were sold
into slavery by the General Court. This
episode was made into a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier called “The Ballad of
Cassandra Southwick” (he switched the name of the mother and daughter, I guess
the name Cassandra was more poetic than Provided). See
my blog post http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/11/ballad-of-cassandra-southwick.html
for more on this story.

Lawrence Southwick’s will, made before he was
banished:

I,
Lawrence Sethick, late of Salem in New England, now being at the house of
Nathaniel Silvester, on Shelter Island, being weake in body but of sound mind
and memory, do make and ordayne this my last will and testament, tenth day of
fifth month, 1659.

I first
give and bequeath unto my sonne Daniel Sethick my dwelling house at Salem, with
all the houses, orchards, gardens and appurtenances; and Gyle's lot, provided
that John Burnell shall have a house lott on the ground at the further end of
the orchard newly fenct in.

Item.
My will is that the lott which I had of Josiah Sethick shall return to him
again.

Item.
I give unto John Sethick the lott next to his owne.

Item.
My will is that the great meadow which lyes at Ipswich River, fenct in, shall
be divided Daniel Sethick and John Burnell equally.

Item.
I give unto Samuel Burton forty shillings.

Item.
I give unto John Burnell, if he stand faithful in the truth, two young steers
and the first mare foal.

Item.
I give unto Henry Traske Marshall's lott joining to his orchard, provided that
Daniel may have liberty to mow a load of hay every year thereon.

Item.
I give unto Mary Traske, daughter to Henry Traske, one good serge suit of
clothes; and unto Sarah and Hannah each of them a suit of clothes.

I give
and bequeath unto Samuel and Sarah, John Sethick's children, to each of them
thirty shillings sterling.

Furthermore
my will is that Daniel my sonne, and Provided my daughter, shall possess and
enjoy all that which remains of my estate after debts and legacies paid, and my
will above mentioned fulfilled, equally to be divided between them so that
Daniel may have that part which belongs to husbandry.

Lastly
my will is that in case my wife survives me shee shall be my executrix and keep
all possessions during her life, and after her decease my will to be performed
according as above expressed; and I do ordayne William Robinson and Thomas
Gardner to be overseers of this my last will and testament, signed and sealed
by me the day and year above written with my hand and seal following.

In
presence of

NATHANIEL
SILVESTER, signed by

THOMAS
HARRIS, LAWRENCE SETHICK.

WILLIAM
DURAND,

This
will was allowed by the court 29, 9 mo., 1660.

attest

HILLARD
VEREN, Clericus.

The story of the Southwick family is exciting, and
because there were many court records this family is fairly easy to trace. I used the following sources:

Genealogical
Dictionary of New England, by James Savage,
Volume IV, pages 142 -3.

Genealogy
of the Descendants of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick of Salem, Massachusetts,
by James Moore Caller and Maria A. Ober, Salem, Mass: JH Choate, 1881

A
Study of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick, by Janet
Ireland Delorey, 1997

Note: Sir Winston Churchill, President Richard
Milhous Nixon and genealogist William Addams Reitwiesner were all descendants
of Lawrence Southwick.

-------------------------

Southwick Genealogy:

Generation 1.
Lawrence Southwick, son of Edward Southwicke and Anne Shelley, born in
Tetenhall, Staffordshire, England, died 10 May 1659 at Shelter Island, New
York; married about 1619 in England to Cassandra Burnell, daughter of Humphrey
Burnell and Margaret Unknown. She was
born about 1598 in Kingswinford, Staffordshire, England and died about 13 May
1659 at Shelter Island. Five children:

1.
Mary Southwick married William Nichols

2.
John Southwick (see below)

3.
Josiah Southwick, born about 1632 married Mary Boyce

4.
Daniel Southwick, born about 1637 in Salem, married Esther Boyce

5.
Provided Southwick, born 6 December 1641 in Salem, married Samuel Gaskill

Generation
2. John Southwick, born 6 March 1625 in Kingswinford, died 25 October 1672 in
Salem, married 1 about 1642 to Sarah Unknown, widow of Samuel Tidd, three children;
married 2 on 12 May 1658 to Hannah Flint, daughter of William Flint and Alice
Williams. Four children. He married third on 3 February
1668/9 to Sarah Burnap/Burnett/Burnell, daughter of John Burnap/Burnett.

With
Sarah:

1.
Mary Southwick, born 10 October 1646 married Thomas Burt

2.
Samuel Southwick, born 19 February 1658, married Mary Ross

3.
Sarah Southwick, born 16 June 1644, married Thomas Buffington

With
Hannah Flint:

4. John Southwick (see below)

With
Sarah Burnap (named in her father’s will):

5.
Isaac Southwick, born November 1669,
died February 1670

6.
Sarah Southwick, born 15 August 1672

7. Isaac Southwick, born 27 November 1671,
married Ann Unknown

Generation
3. John Southwick, born January 1667,
died about 1742; married on 23 December
1687 in Salem to Hannah Follett, daughter of Robert Follet and Persis Black. She was born on 23 December 1664 in
Salem. Seven Children.

1.
John Southwick (see below)

2.
Joseph Southwick, born 1 January 1691

3.
Sarah Southwick, born 9 February 1694,
married Thomas Hutchins

4.
Abraham Southwick, born 27 July 1696

5.
Hannah Southwick, born 6 November 1698, married Ebenezer Hutchinson

Generation
4. John Southwick, born 13 December
1688, died before 7 October 1771; married on 8 January 1710 in Salem to Mary
Trask, daughter of William Trask and Anna Unknown. She was born in March 1683 in Salem, died
before 1767. Seven children, and I descend from two:

1.
John Southwick, born 1710, married Elizabeth Wilson

2.
William Southwick, born 1715, married
Sarah Elizabeth King

3.
Mary Southwick, born 1717, married Ebenezer King

4.
Anna Southwick, born 1719, married Zachariah King

5.
Elizabeth Southwick, (see below)

6.
Joseph Southwick, born about 1723, married Mary Wilson

7.
George Southwick (see below)

First Lineage from Elizabeth Southwick:

Generation 5.
Elizabeth Southwick, born 1721; married about 24 May 1744 in Salem to
Robert Wilson, son of Isaac Wilson and Mary Stone. He was born about 1724, died before 20 July
1782. Four children.

Generation 5. George Southwick, born about 1726,
died before 1808 in Danvers, Massachusetts; married on 18 December 1670 in
Danvers to Sarah Platts, daughter of Moses Platts and Ruth Williams, and the
widow of Francis Shatswell. She was born
26 August 1735 in Gloucester, Massachusetts, died after 1803. Seven children:

1.
George Southwick, born about 1761, married Betsey Ashton

2.
Francis Southwick, born about 1764,
married Hannah Mitchell

3.
Sarah Southwick, born abut 1766

4.
Mercy Southwick, born 19 March 1767, married Joseph Brown

5.
Nathan Southwick, born about 1771, married Molly Moulton

6.
Rebecca Southwick, born about 1774, married James Raddin

7.
Mary Southwick, born 3 June 1777, married Robert Wilson (see above)

4 comments:

Heather I'm descended from Provided Southwick and Samuel Gaskill (then Samuel Gaskill, his son Jonathan Gaskill, and his daughter Patience Gaskill, who married into my Aldrich line - by that time, they had relocated to Mendon, Mass.) Many of my Rhode Island ancestors were driven out of Massachusetts due to their religious beliefs, but I always thought this was the saddest story. I understand there's a monument on Shelter Island to mark the place where the Southwicks died, but I've never been there. At any rate, how nice that we are both descended from these brave people.

So the children didn't have to serve as slaves right? And what happened to that "religious freedom" chatter? How were they persecuted for being Quakers.I've seen other posts that mentions this persecution.

Hi Kathleen! Yes, I have written about other Salem Quakers and how they were persecuted by the Salem authorities, and also I recently wrote about an incident in Dover, NH involving several Quakers who were ordered to be whipped all the way to Rhode Island. The Puritans did NOT believe in religious freedom. They loathed the idea.

As a history teacher I try to instill in students that Puritans did NOT come for religious freedom. They wanted to worship their way but were persecuted in England. They then turned around and persecuted others in the New World. This is a very interesting post. I have some relatives who were punished for entertaining Quakers in their homes.

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Author of the Nutfield Genealogy blog and occasional genealogy speaker. My family research includes Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, with a smattering of Nova Scotia. Please contact me if you see your ancestors on this blog. I would love to share information. I am the former secretary of the New Hampshire Mayflower Society, former President of the Londonderry Historical Society, member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the Mass. Society of Genealogists, The National Genealogical Society, and the New Hampshire Society of Genealogists.